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Rockets end Denver roll at 10 games

Houston Rockets' Tracy McGrady drives to the basket against Denver Nuggets' Andre Miller during the second quarter Saturday. The Rockets beat the Nuggets, 115-87. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
The Spokesman-Review
Houston Rockets' Tracy McGrady drives to the basket against Denver Nuggets' Andre Miller during the second quarter Saturday. The Rockets beat the Nuggets, 115-87. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)

Tracy McGrady shook off a poor start to score 32 points, Mike James gave Houston a huge lift off the bench and the Rockets won their fifth straight game Saturday night, 115-87 over the streaking Denver Nuggets, at Houston.

James scored 23 points, Yao Ming had 13 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks and his backup, Dikembe Mutombo, added 11 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks to help the Rockets end the Nuggets’ 10-game winning streak in a Western Conference showdown critical to playoff positioning.

Kenyon Martin led the Nuggets with 22 points and nine rebounds, the first time in nine games that Carmelo Anthony didn’t lead Denver in scoring. Anthony had 16 points on 4-of-17 shooting.

With two games left before the playoffs, the Rockets (49-31) wrestled away control of sixth place in the West and now hold a tiebreaker over the Nuggets (48-32) in case both teams finish with the same record.

Houston also moved a half-game behind Sacramento for the No. 5 seed. The Kings played at league-leading Phoenix on Saturday night.

The Rockets will close the season with home games against the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday night and Seattle on Wednesday night. The Nuggets play at league-leading Phoenix on Monday night and end with a home game against Portland on Tuesday night.

Knicks 100, Bobcats 98: At Charlotte, N.C., Stephon Marbury scored 19 points and hit the tiebreaking jump shot with 1.7 seconds left, giving New York a victory over Charlotte. Charlotte had a final chance, but Malik Allen missed a 21-footer from the top of the key as time expired. Keith Bogans had 15 points for the expansion Bobcats.

Clippers 94, Hornets 89: At Los Angeles, Bobby Simmons scored 21 points, Elton Brand added 20 and the Clippers beat New Orleans to match their best home record in 12 years. J.R. Smith and former Gonzaga star Dan Dickau scored 17 points each to lead the Hornets.

Bulls 114, Hawks 105: Chicago rookie Chris Duhon made eight 3-pointers for a career-high 24 points, powering the visiting Bulls past Atlanta. Tony Delk led the Hawks with 18 points.

Bucks 113, Magic 103: At Milwaukee, Desmond Mason scored 22 points in three quarters and Milwaukee snapped a four-game skid with a victory over Orlando. Dwight Howard led the Magic with 19 points.

Suns 116, Kings 98: Amare Stoudemire scored 22 of his 38 points in a spectacular third quarter and Phoenix moved within a game of clinching home court advantage throughout the playoffs with a victory over visiting Sacramento.

Spurs 97, Grizzlies 75: At San Antonio, Bruce Bowen scored 15 points to help the Spurs rout Memphis, the fourth straight game the Grizzlies have missed a chance to clinch a Western Conference playoff spot. Grizzlies forward James Posey was ejected for throwing the ball almost the length of the floor when referee Ed Malloy called him for a charging foul with 10:09 left in the game.

Around the League

Denver center Marcus Camby sat out the Nuggets’ game against the Rockets because of a strained right hamstring. Camby injured the hamstring late in the second quarter of Friday’s game against Memphis.